By ARNIE STAPLETON
Posted Apr 18 2010 6:11PM
DENVER (AP) The Utah Jazz are down one game and two players since the regular season ended.
An MRI exam Sunday on center Mehmet Okur's left leg confirmed fears of a torn Achilles' tendon, eliminating him from the remainder of the NBA playoffs and, in all likelihood, the world championships in his native Turkey this summer.
``It's horrible, man. We feel bad for Memo,'' Jazz forward Carlos Boozer said.
Okur flew back to Salt Lake City to mull his surgery options, leaving his dispirited teammates behind in Denver to figure out how to stop the Nuggets without him and forward Andrei Kirilenko, who aggravated a strained calf in practice on Thursday.
``It's a sad injury, bad injury, I wish him the best,'' Jazz point guard Deron Williams said as he sat dejectedly on near practice court at the Pepsi Center. ``Memo's a big part of our team. He stretches the defense. He's a guy you really can't replace just because his inside-outside game is really unmatched.''
Okur had been bothered by Achilles' tendinitis in his left leg since April 7 and missed a game but he fought through it and received a painkilling shot before Game 1.
Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said he didn't believe that injection had anything to do with Okur tearing the tendon.
``We would never have put a player in a compromising position if there was any indication that the shot would have masked anything or done anything like that,'' O'Connor said. ``We would have never done that. We'd never put a game ahead of a player's health. ... That's not in our DNA.''
O'Connor said Okur's injection ``was certainly his call.''
``Is it related? I'm sure in same way, shape or form, everyone's going to put it on the fact that it is, but (team doctors) didn't feel there was any additional risk in doing that,'' O'Connor said.
Okur flew back to Salt Lake City without addressing reporters or his teammates.
Okur was injured when his right leg slipped as he was driving to the basket Saturday night, shifting all his weight to his left leg, which twisted awkwardly as he fell to the floor - what O'Connor called ``a perfect storm.''
Following surgery, Okur will need three months before he can begin rehab, which can take several more months, likely preventing him from playing in the world basketball championships Aug. 28-Sept. 12.
O'Connor said the Jazz have made some recommendations but it will be up to Okur to pick his surgeon.
Okur's absence saps the Jazz of another playmaker who spreads the court.
``He's definitely a threat out in the perimeter,'' Nuggets acting coach Adrian Dantley said. ``With him not playing, it helps our schemes a little bit defensively. He's a very important part of their team, an important part of their offense.''
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan was his usually stoic self when discussing Okur's season-ending injury.
``That's just part of basketball. Not anything you can do about it. We still have to play. We just wish him the best trying to recover,'' he said.
As for the Jazz, ``we are who we are. We're not going to be able to do too much, other than play some of the younger guys that maybe haven't had a chance to play,'' Sloan said.
That includes Kosta Koufos and Kyrylo Fesenko. Sloan said he would likely keep Paul Millsap coming off the bench.
``Listen, this is probably going to sound bad, but I'm not worried about who's not playing,'' Nuggets forward Kenyon Martin said. ``I feel sorry for him. I don't want to see nobody go down due to injury. But you've got to worry about the guys on the court. He's a huge part of their team but I'm pretty sure they'll come up with something. They're going to miss him, but they'll game-plan around it.''
Boozer, Utah's top scorer and rebounded, is playing through a rib injury and C.J. Miles missed a quarter in Game 1 after sprinting into Chauncey Billups and crashing to the floor while trying to chase down a long pass that Carmelo Anthony had flung toward midcourt.
The Nuggets were pleased with what they got out of Martin, who pulled down 12 boards in 35 minutes, the most he's played since returning last week from an 18-game absence with a balky knee.
``I feel good, better than I expected,'' Martin said after watching film Sunday.
``Hey, I'm going to go until I can't go, until my body tells me to go sit down somewhere,'' Martin said.

I have to personally thank you for losing that Phoenix game... If you would have won that game the Nuggs would have matched up with the Suns in the first round.

Any Nugget fan will tell you that the Suns are the team we feared the most. They basically almost swept us with us barley sneaking out a games in Denver. Their zone defense just completely kills the Nuggs offense and makes them a 1 pass and shoot team.

I have to personally thank you for losing that Phoenix game... If you would have won that game the Nuggs would have matched up with the Suns in the first round.

Any Nugget fan will tell you that the Suns are the team we feared the most. They basically almost swept us with us barley sneaking out a games in Denver. Their zone defense just completely kills the Nuggs offense and makes them a 1 pass and shoot team.

That game was far more important than a playoff game. Our playoff path with the three seed looked excellent. Now, I'm thinking a first round exit. I still don't understand why we rested Boozer and AK that game. If they were set to play game one of the playoffs, they maybe should have come back for that game and rested in the playoffs instead.

Ironically, Phoenix is the only team to lose a home game so far. It's like rock-paper scissors in the West: all about matchups.

I don't expect much, Nuggets win......Okur presented a matchup problem for most front courts, he's gone now...They are conventional and that means they can't screw one of the Nuggets bigs over anymore. Nuggets are going to take this series in 6 now, Okur makes a bigger impact than most realize.

Don't think it'll be a blow out. I'm going to say comfortable win for the Nuggets tho. Expect Melo to have another good game but come down to earth. Nene should have a big game and get to the lines lots too.

Because he saw what utah was like and didnt mind it, hell he spends his offseasons in utah.

As far as the game goes. I just hope fez can get some playing time and really do some nice things. block some shots get some easy dunks and clear the glass. Im not like the other 2 jazz fans that are around here(sad we have so few fans on ISH). I havent lost faith in this jazz team even if we lose tonight, being back in utah will be a different story, even if we're down 0-3, I wont lose my faith because sooner or later a team has to come back from 0-3 why not the Jazz? Only time i will give up is if the nuggets reach 4 wins in this series before utah. No sooner.